The art field with respect to protective devices for syringe needles has become quite active in the recent past. The recognition of the variety of disease which are inflicted upon users of hypodermic syringes, including patients as well as hospital personnel, has become a subject of great concern. This is especially true in view of the threat to life diseases such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) as well as other diseases such as hepatitis and the like as opposed to users of hypodermic syringes. The problems which have arisen in hospitals relate in great measure to the personnel including doctors and nurses who are required to given injections and ensure that they do not puncture themselves unintentionally. However, the problem of unintended puncture wounds is a serious problem and in this connection, the art has searched for protective devices which may be easily and effectively used by hospital personnel to ensure that once an injection has been given, that the operator does not unintentionally puncture themselves while attempting to dispose of the syringe.
Insofar as the patented art is concerned, various devices have been developed with a view toward permitting the operator to insert a protective shield over the syringe needle once the injection process has been completed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,042 shows a safety enclosure for a disposable hypodermic syringe needle which is basically formed by an elongated tubular enclosure having a radially outwardly extending shield formed at the insertion end of the device. The intention is that once the needle has been utilized, the operator grasps the elongated tubular portion and slides the same over the needle with the radial shield allegedly protecting the operator against unintended puncture wounds should the operator not properly insert the needle within the confines of the tubular sleeve. The same is true with respect to the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,975 which again is a tubular sleeve having an umbrella type shield formed thereon such that the operator's hand is protected when the operator attempts to insert the needle into the elongate tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,061 shows another version of a needle guard which is utilized by fitting the base of the guard over the barrel end of the syringe needle, and after use, guard means consisting of a tubular sleeve snapped over the entire length of the needle in snug relationship thereby to fully encase the needle and thereby protect the operator against unintended puncture wounds.
Another format for a protective device for a hypodermic syringe is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,854,976 wherein the protective device is formed by a portion which is intended to snap onto the barrel portion of the syringe, and includes an outwardly extended cylindrical portion intended to protect the point end of the needle. However, it is noted that in this case, the protective device is intended to protect the needle against damage prior to use, rather than in protecting the operator from unintended puncture wounds after use, and it is quite apparent that the protective device disclosed therein is intended to be removed incident to the use of the needle for the injection process, and reinserting the protector subsequent to use. However, it is believed that during the process of reinserting the protector after use, unintended puncture wounds may still occur, and therefore, a device of the type shown therein has not been particularly commercially applicable for protecting operators against unintended puncture wounds.
Still another version of a protective device for a hypodermic needle is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,009, wherein the protective device is a retractible covering means for the forward portion of the needle and is intended to keep the needle firmly nestled in a protective tip end prior to use, and subsequent to use by causing the retractible means to envelop the needle after use. The device as depicted therein is intended to have bowable arms which normally biasingly urge the tip protector back into its overlying relationship with respect to the needle when the needle is retracted from the patient following the injection process.
An older version of a protective shield is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,380, which shows a bellows type structure enveloping the needle and being retractible such that the needle may be exposed for the injection process, with the bellows then being urged to cover the needle upon completion of the injection process.
Various other patents exist which show other versions of protective devices, generally the device is showing a structure which is intended to normally biasingly urge a protective shield or cover back over the needle once the injection process has been completed. However, it has been noted that in many of these devices, the needles do not always properly align with the channels in the nose guards, and therefore, none of these devices has achieved any degree of commercial success. Furthermore, none of the devices known to date are provided with any type of needle tip and capture pockets such that upon completion of the injection process, the protective enclosure may be manipulated to capture the needle tip end, and prevent any possibility of the tip end puncturing the operator subsequent to the injection process.
The intent of the present invention is to provide an improved protective enclosure for use in conjunction with hypodermic syringe needles which permits the operator to easily and efficiently manipulate the protective enclosure with a high degree of surety, and enclose the tip end of the syringe needle subsequent to the injection process such that the operator is not required to manipulate, to any great degree, the protective device in order to capture the tip end of the needle and prevent unintended puncture wounds.